Chernobog (Black God, Black Serpent, Чернобог) - the main antagonist in the mythology of the ancient Slavs. He was considered to be an allegory of everything dark in the world and people.

He was born in the impenetrable gloom of Underwold (Навь) after Svarog had forged the universe. He had no father, no mother, only shadows, and echoes of the most secret desires of the first living beings became his parents. He appeared in the world as the embodiment of absolute evil, as the conciliar spirit of the most cruel human instincts and dark sparks of divine radiance. And there was no other goal for Chernobog except destruction.

All the creatures of underwold are obeying Chernobog - dark spirits, aspids, manticores, basilisks and other evil spirits. This god has unique abilities in terms of magic, which in combination with immeasurable physical strength makes him an extremely dangerous creature. Chernobog brought to the world such characters of ancient Russian folklore as Viy, Koschei and Goryn Zmeevich.

Chernobog is an obvious allegorization of the dark side of the personality of each of us. He is incredibly strong, he is practically invincible, however, without the evil of the existence of the world is impossible. Its polarity, its double-valuedness is the basis of the harmony of the universe.

P.S Most of you voted for Greek mythology in the poll on my page, so the next piece will be related to it

So far as my memory doesn't deceive me, the witches used to gather on this mountain, ... gossip, play tricks and await their chief—Satan. On his arrival they, i.e. the witches, formed a circle round the throne on which he sat, in the form of a kid, and sang his praise. When Satan was worked up into a sufficient passion by the witches' praises, he gave the command for the sabbath, in which he chose for himself the witches who caught his fancy. So this is what I've done. At the head of my score I've put its content: 1. Assembly of the witches, their talk and gossip; 2. Satan's journey; 3. Obscene praises of Satan; and 4. Sabbath ... The form and character of the composition are Russian and original ... I wrote St. John's Eve quickly, straight away in full score, I wrote it in about twelve days, glory to God ... While at work on St. John's Eve I didn't sleep at night and actually finished the work on the eve of St. John's Day, it seethed within me so, and I simply didn't know what was happening within me ... I see in my wicked prank an independent Russian product, free from German profundity and routine, and, like Savishna, grown on our native fields and nurtured on Russian bread.

Kinda makes the Chernobog of Disney make sense with the flaming witches in the palm of his hand, and the church light at the end. Although this Chernobog probably falls into the same evil category.

Your art is really evocative, I could probably comment on most of the pieces in your gallery but this piece stood out to me - there is something about the almost calculating blank stare of this figure that is really arresting. He almost appears like a sort of reverse of the standard myth of the wise old wizard, which really is a bit different to most dark gods. This one doesn't need fire and flash to be frightening, or lots of macabre decoration - he just needs to look at you for you to know you are in so much trouble! Top marks

When I read the description about how he had been neglected throughout his childhood - no parents - that is a heavy start to his personality and the way he's re/presented ... but could make an interesting movie, showing somebody who could give him love and turn his character around!